Up to half of the UK government’s 2020 renewable energy target could be met by energy crops, wood and other forms of biomass according to a recent government report.
The UK Bioenergy Strategy report says biomass will play a key role in meeting the target to source 15 per cent of all energy from renewable sources by 2020
The report does not include any specific policies on how this can be achieved.
Currently around 0.01m ha of land is planted to energy crops, but this could be increased to 0.04m ha by 2020 if a number of hurdles can be overcome, the report says.
As well as providing heat and electricity, when grown in the right location energy crops can also help prevent soil erosion and improve biodiversity, the report says. Analysis shows that energy from biomass crops can have lower direct carbon impacts than food crop production.
However, while the government places a large emphasis on the importance of sustainability, and the potential for home-grown biomass, it says imported material is likely to make up the majority of available supply.
As well as helping to meet energy targets, a separate report by the National Non-Food Crops Centre, suggests that heat and power from biomass could deliver up to 50,000 jobs over the next eight years.
